Fish communities on staghorn coral: effects of habitat characteristics and resident farmerfishes
Fish communities on staghorn coral: effects of habitat characteristics and resident farmerfishes
复制标题
鹿角珊瑚上的鱼类群落：栖息地特征和居民鱼类的影响
DOI：
10.1007/s10641-011-9802-6
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发表时间：
2011
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
A. Brooks
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Michele K. Johnson;S. Holbrook;R. Schmitt;A. Brooks
分支珊瑚，像许多鹿角珊瑚属，为珊瑚鱼和其他生物提供结构复杂的栖息地。在丰富的，分布和特点的灌木丛形成鹿角Acroporids的波动可能会导致珊瑚礁鱼类的丰度和物种组成的变化，由于住房栖息地和食物的变化。在鹿角珊瑚中大量出现的Stegastes属的养殖豆娘鱼可以积极地保护食物和巢穴空间免受威胁这些资源的生物的侵害。在这里，我们评估鹿角作为鱼类栖息地在南太平洋中部的价值，以及如何领土养殖豆娘鱼的存在可能会影响与鹿角珊瑚的鱼类组合。调查的185个鹿角珊瑚pulchra补丁位于周围的穆雷阿岛，法属波利尼西亚泻湖揭示了85种鱼类，来自25个家庭。总的鱼类丰度和物种丰富度值范围从没有鱼的补丁高达275个人和26个物种。斑块面积是解释鱼类组合属性变化的最重要特征，其他特征解释不了物种组成或营养结构。行为观察显示，养殖豆娘鱼最具侵略性的珊瑚，草食动物和蛋捕食者，而他们忽略了大多数食肉动物和杂食动物。尽管这种模式，我们观察到的正协方差Stegastes和组的鱼，引起最强烈的侵略性反应时，斑块面积的影响被删除，这表明这些鱼类仍然吸引到资源产生或增强Stegastes对A。pulchra。
Branching corals, like many in the genus Acropora, provide structurally complex habitats for reef fishes and other organisms. Fluctuations in the abundance, distribution and characteristics of thicket-forming staghorn Acroporids may contribute to changes in the abundance and species composition of reef fishes due to changes in the availability of shelter habitat and food. Farming damselfishes of the genus Stegastes can occur in high abundances in staghorn corals and actively defend food and nest space against organisms that threaten these resources. Here we assess the value of staghorn as habitat for fishes in the central South Pacific, and how the presence of territorial farming damselfishes may influence the assemblage of fishes that associate with staghorn corals. Surveys of 185 Acropora pulchra patches located in the lagoons surrounding the island of Moorea, French Polynesia revealed 85 species of fish from 25 families. Total fish abundance and species richness values ranged from no fish on a patch to a high of 275 individuals and 26 species. Patch area was the most important characteristic in explaining variation in attributes of the fish assemblage, with other characteristics explaining little of the species composition or trophic structure. Behavioral observations revealed that farming damselfishes were most aggressive toward corallivores, herbivores, and egg predators, while they ignored most carnivores and omnivores. Despite this pattern, we observed positive covariance between Stegastes and the group of fishes that elicited the strongest aggressive response when the effect of patch area was removed, suggesting these fishes remain drawn to the resources produced or enhanced by Stegastes on A. pulchra.